By JACQI
LEYVA-HILL
Special to the PRESS
A group of endurance athletes took on a 5K swim in the South Padre Island surf with a purpose extending beyond the physical challenge — remembering veterans who are no longer here and raising awareness and funds for the Wounded Warrior Project.
Veteran Joseph De La Garza said the idea developed after he signed up for the Wounded Warrior Project’s
Carry Forward 5K and began looking for a challenging way to participate while memorializing fellow veterans.
“For me, anytime I do a challenging event I have to have a sense of purpose that’s bigger than myself, and I will never quit,” De La Garza said.
The swim stretched from the South Padre Island jetties to the second pavilion, with participants traveling up and back approximately two and a half times. De La Garza completed the distance in a little less than three hours.
The swimmers were also supported by two kayakers who accompanied them through the event.
“We had a couple kayakers supporting us on the swim and couldn’t have done it without a team effort,” De La Garza said. “We all had our why out there to get us to the finish line.”
One of De La Garza’s reasons was his close friend and fellow Army veteran Kenny Avila.
De La Garza said he served in the Army with Avila, who later became a New York Police Department officer and responded to the Twin Towers following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Avila died last year from kidney failure after previously receiving a kidney transplant that his body later rejected.
“Kenny and I were always calling each other and giving each other grief, as he was PD and I was a firefighter,” De La Garza said.
During the nearly three-hour swim, De La Garza said his thoughts were not limited to one person.
“During my swim I did have conversations with veterans we have lost,” he said.
De La Garza served on active duty in both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy and also served in the Reserves and National Guard, totaling 16 years of military service.
Despite his own background, De La Garza said he does not want the event centered on him.
“Again, this is not about me but rather the mission,” he said. “I am just a veteran creating awareness and funds.”
He said the Wounded Warrior Project provides programs for veterans and their families and hopes the swim can help bring greater awareness and financial support to that mission.
De La Garza said he checked with Wounded Warrior Project regarding whether another Carry Forward 5K had been completed as a swim and was awaiting final confirmation of whether his group was the first to do so.
He plans to make the South Padre Island swim a yearly event during the week of Sept. 11 while keeping it a grassroots effort focused on raising awareness and funds for Wounded Warrior Project.
The effort initially set a fundraising goal of $500. De La Garza said the fundraiser reached $501 on Sept. 14, surpassing that goal.
The swim is not the group’s only community effort. De La Garza said they also plan to host their third annual food drive ruck march this fall, with additional details to be announced.
For De La Garza and the others who entered the surf, reaching the finish was only part of the accomplishment.
“We all had our why out there to get us to the finish line,” he said.